Page 101 of Time Stops With You

The subject reads ‘CEASE AND DISIST’.

I open the email and read out loud, “To Mr. Ronan Cullen, You have two weeks to shut down your project for infringing on…” I read the rest of the letter in my head as my eyes widen. “What the hell is this?”

Immediately, I reach for my phone and call Sara.

“Morning, Cullen,” she sings happily, “I’ve got the research on the elevators all ready. The good news is it’s possible, but the bad news is, it’s extremely costly?—”

“Sara, I have a cease and desist letter in my inbox from the company that stoleourprogramming. Is this the first time we’ve gotten such an email?”

“What? Let me check.” I hear a rustling sound and then Sara comes back on the line, her voice breathless. “Oh my goodness. I have no idea what that’s about, but I’ll send it straight to our lawyers.”

“Let Asad and Dr. Young know too, but don’t send it to Sullivan yet. Let’s see if we can deal with it first before roping him into our mess.”

“Why would they sueus? Especially when we have all the evidence on our side?”

I press my finger and thumb over the bridge of my nose, massaging lightly. “That’s exactly what they want. Evidence.”

“What do you mean?”

“If they take us to court, we’ll need to provide our mainframe for the investigation.”

Sara gasps. “They’ll see our programming infrastructure. Our codes. Everything.”

“It’s a smart play. Especially since the technology is still so new and constantly changing. Legislation can’t keep up. There’s not much protection for creators.”

“A company that big won’t even have to win the case,” Sara whispers. “They just need to peek into our files in order to build our simulation faster and get it out to the government and other businesses before us.”

I really don’t need this right now. Shaking my head, I growl. “We can’t let this go to court.”

“Of course. I’ll get on top of this.”

I hang up on Sara, sensing that a headache the size of a hurricane is on the horizon. One of my monitors is a feed of the parking lot and I can see Nardi and Josiah heading to the car. Josiah is looking over his shoulder.

He must be waiting for me to show.

The last thing I should do is take off from work and follow them in the middle of another crisis, but I remember my promise to Josiah. Plus, right now, Nardi should be recovering, not driving.

I push away from my desk, grab the bag with all the food I made for her and Josiah and stride into the sunshine.

“You really shouldn’t drive,” Josiah is telling his older sister as I draw near.

“I’m fine. I can drive with one hand,” Nardi says.

“That’s not a good idea,” I tell her.

Nardi spins, her eyes narrowed.

Josiah grins in relief.

I smile at him. “Morning, Josiah.”

“What areyoudoing here?” Nardi demands.

I face her and hold out a hand.

“No.” She pulls the keys to her chest. “I’m not letting you drive.”

My eyes trace down to the bandages peeking out from her wrist. Those weren’t showing yesterday. She must have messed with the wrist brace between last night and this morning.

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